Van Basten consoles a dejected Van Der Sar The first 'powerhouse' was eliminated yesterday when the Netherlands was knocked out by Portugal in a 1-0 defeat that was marred by a sensational showing by the referee - dishing out 4 red cards and 16 yellow cards.
While the Orange Army were hardly touted as favorites coming in to this tournament, their World Cup lineage held them in good stead, even if based on reputation alone. With a young squad consisting mainly of young unknowns, coach Marco Van Basten managed to weed out the traditional Dutch civil wars by almost completely blanking out the 1994/1995 Ajax luminaries.
So the Dutch continue their tradition as chronic underachievers. Although, it must be said that this squad is a transitional one at best. But unlike Klinsmann's (another great 80s striker) babies who rode the wave of criticism and surprised everyone with their brand of organized attacking football, the Dutch fairy tale has ended with a tragic sputter.
The adolescent 80s Milan fan in me wanted Van Basten to take them further. But kudos have to be given to Van Basten, for at the very least, keeping the squad together. It would be an absolute shame if Van Basten should follow the footsteps of his Milan compatriot Frank Rijkaard and clock out after failing in a major tournament.
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1 comments:
what he's doing is really refashioning a whole generation of dutch national players, and a new orenje ethos. it would be the biggest mistake if the knvb let him go now. he absoluttely must stay on and continue his work towards euro 08
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